Best Places In The World To Retire

For us, retirement in Yucatan has been fabulous. When people ask me what I miss, I say, “We miss some longtime friends that we don’t get to see very often. We also miss Greek and Chinese food.” But we have adjusted.

 

I had a really interesting and challenging job that it was never who I was but it’s rather what I did. When I closed that chapter and opened up a new chapter of my life, it’s just as interesting and exciting but...

For us, retirement in Yucatan has been fabulous. When people ask me what I miss, I say, “We miss some longtime friends that we don’t get to see very often. We also miss Greek and Chinese food.” But we have adjusted.

 

I had a really interesting and challenging job that it was never who I was but it’s rather what I did. When I closed that chapter and opened up a new chapter of my life, it’s just as interesting and exciting but it’s totally different. If we wrote and sealed in an envelope what we thought what life would be like here in Yucatan, we would have grossly underestimated how wonderful it’s turned out. It’s partially because we tend to be A Type, gregarious people.

 

We have been adopted by the community and we have engaged. I am a Rotarian. I was never a member of the Rotary Club in the States but I am here so I have a weekly meeting. The Valladolid English Language Library, which was founded after we came here, has a monthly get together with expats with an English language presentation on some topic. There are a number of social events here that are free of charge and some concerts that we regularly go to. Every Sunday night, half a block from our house on the main square, they block off the street in front of the city hall. There 14-piece Latin band and there is free dancing on the street from 8 PM to 10 PM every single weekend. We go over to one of the restaurants right on the square. We have a standing reservation for a table at 8 PM. We have a light snack and a drink and quite often, some friends, either Mexicans or expats will join us. Life is good here.

 

We have also discovered that about an hour and a half away, depending on where in Merida we go, there are a number of concerts like the Yucatan State Symphony, or Chamber of Music subscription series. There is also an art community there with gallery openings. We have decided that it doesn’t matter if we drive an hour and a half to an hour and 45 minutes to these events. We have also gotten lazy because one of our staff, Freddie, who happens to speak English (but that’s not the criteria), drives us.  We helped him get his driver’s license and he is a good driver. So I don’t drive very often when we go to Merida anymore. Freddie drives for us instead. I can’t afford a driver in Chicago but we have one here.  

 

(Benefit concert for the Valladolid Pueblo Mágico Rotary Club, Yucatan, Mexico, pictured.) 

You can be a permanent resident of Belize without having to go for Belizean citizenship.

 

If you come here with residency in mind get somebody to help you and immediately apply for a work permit even if you don’t plan to get a job. With a work permit, you can get your residency much easier.  You will need a work permit even if you are going to open a business.  

 

In order to qualify for the qualified...

You can be a permanent resident of Belize without having to go for Belizean citizenship.

 

If you come here with residency in mind get somebody to help you and immediately apply for a work permit even if you don’t plan to get a job. With a work permit, you can get your residency much easier.  You will need a work permit even if you are going to open a business.  

 

In order to qualify for the qualified retirement program, you have to prove that you make US $2,000 a month and that you’re going to bring that income into this country. Also, if you are coming in under the QRP, you cannot work or donate your time. One thing I recommend is that if a couple is coming into Belize and one of them wants to have a business, don’t both come in under the QRP. One should come in as a tourist and apply for residency and the other partner comes in under the QRP. What that does for you is that one of you can have a business or work (once you have a work permit) while still qualifying for the QRP benefits. 

 

(Cayo Espanto, Belize, pictured.)    

Generally speaking, Portugal has a free market and fairly capitalistic system but still with a very strong role of the state in terms of its social responsibility.  As a result, you will still see a government that attempts to protect within the financial limits imposed by budgets and other things. You will still see a government attempting to protect the poorest relative to their salaries, the elderly, etc., and although those protected mechanisms have drastically reduced and...

Generally speaking, Portugal has a free market and fairly capitalistic system but still with a very strong role of the state in terms of its social responsibility.  As a result, you will still see a government that attempts to protect within the financial limits imposed by budgets and other things. You will still see a government attempting to protect the poorest relative to their salaries, the elderly, etc., and although those protected mechanisms have drastically reduced and fallen away over the years because of certain measures.  Nonetheless, compared to the US, for example, the state here in Portugal intervenes a lot.

 

A good example is that before the change of government, which happened just recently, the national airline, TAP was privatized and 51% of it was sold to a consortium headed by an American investor, but at the moment, the socialist government is trying to reverse that situation by renegotiating the shareholding of the external investor from the majority to the minority position. I think this is something that in the US would be unheard of or the state would not be looking to buy the shares back from any of the airlines because there isn’t really a national airline in the US. If there were one, it would be difficult to imagine the US government buying back shares in an airline to ensure some kind of say in its management or protection of the nation as a whole.

 

(1968 TAP airline commercial in lights behind  the fountain in  Rossio Square, Lisbon, Portugal, pictured.)

The best things that I like to do in or around San Juan Del Sur are to take a nice, relaxing walk along the bay with my dog just before sunset and grab a seat at one of our favorite happy hour restaurants on the beach where beers, rum, and assortments of nice appetizers are a dollar each.  Most often I meet up with friends without having to make plans in advance, and then I just sit there and watch the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. That is one of my absolute most favorite...

The best things that I like to do in or around San Juan Del Sur are to take a nice, relaxing walk along the bay with my dog just before sunset and grab a seat at one of our favorite happy hour restaurants on the beach where beers, rum, and assortments of nice appetizers are a dollar each.  Most often I meet up with friends without having to make plans in advance, and then I just sit there and watch the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. That is one of my absolute most favorite things to do here in San Juan Del Sur. 

 

I've been doing this probably three times a week in the four years I've been here in San Juan Del Sur. I find myself on the beach at the bay of San Juan Del Sur enjoying that cool Toña (local beer) and watching the sunset. It never gets old.

 

Another thing that my husband, Gordon, and I enjoy doing in San Juan Del Sur is taking a little trip on our motorcycle. We'll grab our little miniature schnauzer, Maggie, and hop on our bike, sometimes alone or sometimes with friends. We love to ride on the dirt roads to some of our neighboring beaches. Most of the time we go south and just stop at some of the different beaches along the way. Our favorite spots to go are the less traveled areas.

 

In particular, there's this one beach bar and restaurant that we really enjoy visiting on Playa Escamequita, a 30-minute ride from San Juan Del Sur. It's not that far in distance. It's just that the road is a little rough and we drive 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) per hour at top speed, which makes the trip a little bit longer. 

 

Some local women started this bar and restaurant with some funding help from a foreigner who's living in the area. It's just a great time. We go there and most of the time there's no one else there. They have hammocks. You're literally right on the beach and you can enjoy some local food, a cold cerveza (beer) or fresh juice, and have a fun time; just a little adventure out of town and something else we really love to do.

 

(Elisha MacKay and her husband, Gordon, with their dog and on the road on their motorcycle, San Juan de Sur, Nicaragua, pictured.)

If you are flexible and adaptable and come with a smile on your face, you’ll discover that it’s much easier to move abroad than you expected.  It’s all about how you get along with people. If you’re friendly, you’re looking for help and you make your best effort, people here in Panama are like people pretty much everywhere and they certainly will help you out. It can be a pleasant surprise. The locals can often work around the language problem and...

If you are flexible and adaptable and come with a smile on your face, you’ll discover that it’s much easier to move abroad than you expected.  It’s all about how you get along with people. If you’re friendly, you’re looking for help and you make your best effort, people here in Panama are like people pretty much everywhere and they certainly will help you out. It can be a pleasant surprise. The locals can often work around the language problem and it’s usually not as bad a situation as people moving or retiring abroad expected it would be.

 

What people are happily surprised by when moving overseas also depends on fears they bring with them. Some of them are frightened and they think where they’re going to a society that is somehow primitive or backward and they discover very quickly that these societies are quite modern, much more so than they expect, certainly more so than let’s say 20 or 30 years ago.  Many of us still have images in our head 20 or 30 years ago of what life was like overseas. It’s changed. It has changed a lot.

 

This is true just about everywhere where people go to retire.  For example, electronics and modern communication are going be very similar. The differences will be the standard ones, like the language. There are very few societies where you feel threatened by the local people. Where this happens are not countries retirees go – North Korea, Somalia, and places like that; not the most popular places for English-speaking expats to go. Otherwise, none of these issues are a serious problem.